Throughout the years of recorded history men and women have been eager to possess and use ornamental jewelry about their clothing and person. Earrings in particular have been used by both sexes, and still are for reasons which are both varied and ornamental. Even at this date men and women wear earrings to convey messages to those about them; indeed, some wear a plurality of earrings. One type which is in great use is the post-type earrings which are used by those persons having pierced ears. A post-type earring is that type which has a body portion, a decorative portion which is placed on the ear such that it is readily visible, and an elongated needle-type portion.
As a result of the attractiveness of the use of earrings, many people, particularly women, have acquired fairly large collections of earrings for the pleasure of variety. This results in the problem of having adequate means to store the earrings and adequate means for displaying the earrings. For example, when going on a trip if one simply placed the earrings in a bag or purse type receptacle, the earrings could become scratched or could get caught up with other earrings. Also, one must sort through the receptacle to find the earrings desired.
Various types of devices and apparatus have been known and in use for displaying earrings and other items. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,224 to Aber discloses an apparatus for displaying and/or storing post-type earrings. The Aber apparatus consists of two layers of sheet plastic materials having a filler material between the two sheets and filler material adjacent one of the plastic sheets. The layers of sheet plastic material have a plurality of holes therethrough such that the holes on one sheet are in direct axial alignment with the holes on the second sheet.
Another example of an apparatus for holding earrings of the post configuration type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,458 to LaBate. LaBate discloses a mesh type of material placed upon a frame whereby the earrings are inserted through the mesh material and which are held in place by the relative friction between the post and mesh covering.